1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of network computing. More specifically, the invention relates to the prioritization of third party access to an online commerce site.
2. Background of the Invention
The online commerce marketplace allows users to buy and sell goods and services (e.g., via an online auction web site) to geographically dispersed consumers. Typically, a user employs automated processes to buy or sell their own products on the online commerce site. By partnering with an established online commerce site, a user (e.g., a merchant) bypasses the cost of building an online commerce infrastructure from scratch, thereby reaching the online market quickly and accessing a large number of good and services in addition to a large number of buyers and sellers.
Permitting uncontrolled access to the online commerce site has some drawbacks, such as the drain on system resources due to the increased processing performed on the online commerce site. For example, a third party may utilize an automated program to extract information such as product listings and pricing information, from the online commerce site at various unpredictable times. The automated program may place a heavy load on the online commerce site that causes substantial response time delays to all users of the online commerce site. These response time delays may eventually frustrate the consumers of the site, causing them to cease using the online commerce site and seek another electronic commerce site from which to conduct business.